Is China Like My Bed?中国像我的床一样么？

This past Tuesday, I returned home to my apartment after an exhausting day of six hours in Chinese class followed by an additional four hours of studying. The only thing I wanted to see was my bed.  As I was putting on my pajamas, however, I noticed something different about it – it was collapsing.  I bent down to take a closer look at the bed frame and found that the wooden panels were being kept together by several pieces of thick yellow tape. I took off the mattress and examined the entire structure. Nothing had been secured with actual screws; it was a sloppy taping job at best.

I’ve been sleeping in this bed for over two months now and had never noticed this serious flaw in its construction. Until this week, its outward frame had appeared as though it was sturdy and reliable. Now, I’m left alone to pick up the pieces of this shoddy and careless work.  This issue with my bed caused me to reflect on the current situation in China.  A series of political scandals have come to light over the past year and has caused the government a great deal of anxiety.  I’m faced with this reality nearly every day. I can’t escape the red propaganda banner that hangs outside the entrance of Peking University’s gym and ominously reads, “Listen to the warning of the bird call, keep stability, everyone has responsibility.” And recently, it’s been a headache trying to access foreign sites such as Gmail and Google.

China seems paranoid and I can’t help but to ask, why? Could it be that maybe in its rapid haste to build a developed nation, it has failed to secure the bolts and screws? Instead, opting for a quick and easy makeover. Has China masked its problems with fickle pieces of tape in order to create a façade of security?  If so, the inevitable will happen. The tape will wear down and the superficial exterior will give way after repeated outside pressure.  It will crumble and expose the frail infrastructure within. It will show that there was never any stability because there never was a strong foundation.  I hope China isn’t like my bed.  I hope that with this change in leadership and power, comes real progress for Chinese society and its people.  China needs to take the extra time to secure its beams and frames before throwing on the silk blankets and pillows. This way, we can all get a good night’s sleep.

刚刚过去的这个星期二，在六小时中文课以及紧随其后的另外四小时学习构成的令人精疲力尽的一天之后，我回到我的公寓，唯一想看到的东西就是我的床。就在我穿上睡衣的时候，我注意到了一些不寻常的地方——床在慢慢坍塌。我弯下腰去想要仔细观察一下床架，发现那些木板是由几片厚厚的黄色胶带缠在一起的。我把床垫搬到一边，对整个结构检验了一番。没有任何东西是真正用螺丝钉固定的，它最多也只能算是马马虎虎地用胶带绑起来就算完成的工程。 

我已经在这个床上睡了有两个多月了，这段时间中完全都没有注意到它构造上存在任何严重的问题。一直到这个星期，显露在外的床架都一直看起来很坚固并且值得信赖。而现在，只剩我独自一人在这里收拾这滥竽充数的草率工程导致的残局。这张床的问题让我开始反思中国的现状。在过去的几年内暴露出了一系列的政治丑闻，引起了政府极大程度的焦虑。我现在几乎每天都要面对这样的状况。我总是无法避开北京大学体育馆入口外面悬挂着的显眼的红色宣传横幅，上面写着令人感觉诡异不安的这样一句话：仔细听那鸟的啼鸣中的告诫，保持稳定性，使我们每个人的责任。而最近，让我头疼的是无论怎么尝试都没有办法登上像Gmail和Google这样的外国网站。

中国看起来很偏执，这让我不禁想问： 这是为什么呢？ 难道是在它匆忙建立一个快速发展的国家的过程中，没顾得上紧固螺栓和螺丝钉么？与之相反的，中国选择了一个方便快捷的改造方案。中国是用靠不住的一片片胶带来屏蔽问题，制造出表面上安全稳固的假象么？如果是这样，那么有些事就不可避免的会发生。 胶带会逐渐脱落，而表面虚伪的假象则会在与反复作用的外界压力的战争中败下阵来。它最终会分崩离析并暴露出内里不堪一击的基础结构。这揭露了一个事实：由于从来没有足够坚强的基础，所以从来不存在什么所谓的稳固性。 我希望中国不像我的床一样。我希望在这次领导人与权利掌握人的改朝换代后，中国的社会和人民将会迎来真正的进步。放上丝绸毯子和枕头之前，中国需要额外花时间确定它的梁和框架的稳定性。这样，我们才能真正拥有一夜好眠。